Free Concert by Edith & Bennett at the Mattituck-Laurel Library

Edith & Bennett (Edith Gawler and Bennett Konesni) are musicians and worksong scholars who together play old-time fiddle, banjo, Swedish dance tunes, and farmer’s ballads and hollers.

Edith Gawler grew up in Maine as a member of the legendary Gawler Family Band, which has now grown to include her husband, Bennett Konesni. As a duo, she and Bennett play old-time fiddle and banjo music, Swedish dance tunes, and sing farmer’s ballads and hollers. They teach worksongs together in a variety of settings across the country. Not long ago, Edith finished her architectural thesis at Syracuse University, which looks to draw on the principles of the local sustainable food movement as a model for a new architecture.

Bennett Konesni is co-founder of Sylvester Manor, a 243-acre educational farm on Shelter Island, NY on a piece of land that has been in his family since 1652. His roles there include teaching worksongs to the farm crew and directing the annual fall festival “Plant & Sing”, which brings the community to the farm to complete two week’s worth of garlic shucking and planting in a single morning, all while singing worksongs.